In a preface to one of her bestselling books, Pema Chodron (b. July 14, 1936) revealed how the paradox of productive inactivity helped her write and be creative like never before.
Chodron felt she needed to take a time off “before fully appreciating” what she’d learned from her root guru, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and sharing that experience with others.
In particular, the Buddhist nun emphasized how “making friends with our own demons and their accompanying insecurity leads to a very simple, understated relaxation and joy,” and how it helped her write three books:
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In 1995 I took a sabbatical. For twelve months I essentially did nothing. It was the most spiritually inspiring time of my life. Pretty much all I did was relax. I read and hiked and slept. I cooked and ate, meditated and wrote. I had no schedule, no agenda, and no “shoulds.” A lot got digested during this completely open, uncharted time. For one thing, I began to read slowly through two cardboard boxes of very raw, unedited transcriptions of talks that make up “The Wisdom of No Escape” and the lojong teachings that make up “Start Where You Are,” these talks seemed to have no unifying thread. Now and then I would look at a few transcripts. I found them everything from pedantic to delightful. It was both interesting and embarrassing to be faced with such a profusion of my own words. Gradually, as I read more, I began to see that in some way, no matter what subject I had chosen, what country I was in, or what year it was, I had taught endlessly about the same things: the great need for maitri (loving-kindness toward oneself), and developing from that the awakening of a fearlessly compassionate attitude toward our won pain and that of others.
Chodron goes on to note that halfway through that same year, her editor, Emily Hilburn Sell, asked for more talks that might be usable for a third book. In response, the editor received several cardboard boxes full of archived transcripts, which she “sifted and shifted and deleted,” working side-by-side with Chodron. As a result of this collaboration, “When Things Fall Apart” was born.
“Rinpoche once gave me the advice ‘Relax and write’,” Chodron reflects on that period of productive inactivity. “At the time it didn’t seem like I’d ever do either of these things, but years later, here I was following his instructions.”
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Complement with our guide on how to practice lovingkindness meditation and then revisit Mortimer Adler on work vs. rest.
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